Hello 2025!
I write this on New Year’s Eve as a loaf of bread bakes, the woodstove warms our house as a thunderstorm rolls by. We are having some friends over this evening to ring in the New Year and I’m wrapping up setting some intentions for January in my Garden Notes Journal, with an inner smile and a proud feeling that I did it. I published another book. One that I hope lands in others’ hands at one point or another this year so others can find the joy in dreaming, planning, tracking, and documenting their own gardening journey; whether it’s an internal and/or external journey.
I recently went through a tub of old photos my mom had given me a few years ago when she moved. I was going through the tub to transfer the photos into photo boxes and to give some to my sister as a Christmas present when I came across old journals of mine. I had forgetten about them and even though I never plan on going back through them, I shomehow always keep them. I was reminded of how important it is to document our lives, our history. To be our own historians for future generations. I dream of having a bookshelf full of Garden Notes, one for each year, to refer back to on my own gardening journey, to refer back to formulas of skincare products, wine reciepes, herbal seasoning blends, notes on flower remedies, and to re-read notes on different flowers and plants as I dive deeper into their meanings and how they can work with my in my daily life.
I’ve been reflecting these last few days of 2024 on what I’ve learned this year and what I am ready to let go of. How I want to feel next year and how I hope to show up for myself and loved ones. I don’t do New Years Resolutions but I do pick a word to represent the year. This year, two words presented themselves to me: Joy + Trust. My family has had several health struggles the last few years and as I’ve gotten older, the years go by so fast- I don’t have a minute to waste. I no longer have the time or energy to participate in thoughts, activities, belives, or things I do not enjoy. I’ve also realized this past year that I’ve been in a big transition season for a long time. (Truthfully though, isn’t life just one big transition?) I’ve been letting go of a lot of things that wasn’t serving me- thoughts, beliefs, and actions. And while that is beautiful in itself, I have felt at times like a fish out of water. Not really sure what to do next.
For those that are familiar with the practice of manifestation, I follow the work of To Be Magnetic and tweak my Authentic Code each year (they are currently running an Authenticity Challenge which has been pretty amazing). My intention for the year is to do what brings me joy regardless of how rediculious it might sound, or even if it doesn’t ‘serve a purpose’ and to trust in myself, my intuition, and inner knowing that these joys will take me on the path to this next season of life. To get into the habit of running everything I do, say, and act through the filter of my authentic code and through Joy + Trust to be sure I am being true to myself.
What I’ve come to realize is that if we as individuals enjoy our lives, particpate in activities we enjoy, and are transforming negativity in our lives, then we show up better for our loved ones, our co-workers, and to strangers, and that my friends, is an act of service. It’s all connected: mind, body, and spirit. We as individuals are connected to each other to form the collective. If I can become my best self, it will have ripple effects across every other being I interact with.
As you sit to plan this year’s garden focus on the intentions you want to create. How do you want this coming year to look and feel? What do you want to grow - literally and figuratively- this year? Maybe you are ready to pick up the pace a little bit because you’ve had a slow and quiet last few years? Maybe you are ready to slow it down because the last few years have flown by and been filled with one thing after the other? Maybe you want more of what you’ve cultivated and want to dig deeper? Either way, the path forward is up to you. Think about the things you want to make, the plants you want to grow. Do you want to try something new? Or something worked really well last year and you want to expand? How do you want your gardening time to feel? Think about your end goals and plan it out in reverse.
I sit down at the start of each month to set some intentions for the month ahead. Sometimes I have specific goals and things that absolutely must be done so I make note of these as not to foget and to plan ahead; but I try to keep this practice loose and allow thoughts, feelings, and knowings come to the surface to guide me in my planning. Last month I decided to pull an Oracle Card to help ground into the energy of the month ahead and I enjoyed the practice and focus it gave me last month that I did it again for January and will continue to pull a card so long as it feels right. I keep the monthly card by my desk so I can look at it each day. I like to see how this energy unfolds during the month.
As you start on this journey, find your own flow. Maybe it becomes a monthly ritual, or Maybe it starts as more of an afterthought than anything until you find a rhythm. There is no right or wrong way. It’s why I designed a blank journal - so you can start your journey during any month; it doesn’t have to be the start of a new year. I like to keep my journal by my desk out in the open because even though I created this journal, I still need a visual reminder to use it!
You can learn more about personalizing your copy of Garden Notes here.
The prototype of Garden Notes I used last year had weekly to-do pages to keep me on task. I kept that intention in the published version but changed the wording to “Get To Do List” after hearing that term somewhere in passing. I loved the positive message behind it - it is great priviledge and a true blessing when we work with intention. Changing the wording of a simple To Do List gave me a perspective shift in my daily tasks, allowing me to tackle each with more positive energy for a greater outcome.
My Get To Do List is short in these quiet and slow weeks of winter. More dreaming than anything but soon enough, it will be time to start some seeds indoors in preparation for what’s to come.
Rember that thunderstorm I mentioned that was rolling in? Afterwards we had a full double rainbow in our backyard. An omen for all the good that is to come in 2025! I’ll be sure to print this and put it in my journal.
